this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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TIL that "nginx" is pronounced "engine-x", and not "n-jinx" (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 day ago by Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev
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nginx ("engine x") is an HTTP web server, reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer, TCP/UDP proxy server, and mail proxy server. […] [1]

I still pronounce it as "n-jinx" in my head.

References

  1. Title (website): "nginx". Publisher: NGINX. Accessed: 2025-02-26T23:25Z. URI: https://nginx.org/en/.
    • §"nginx". ¶1.
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[–] eighty@aussie.zone 37 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

first rule of english pronunciation: there are no rules. All that matters is if people understand what you mean when you say it.

I gave up on this discussion when you have to consider gin, generate, giraffe, gene, gym, etc

Also I pronounce it with the soft sound because that's what it sounds like in the bloody alphabet.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

See also ghoti (fish). English orthography only works by agreement, not rules

[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 0 points 17 hours ago

See also ghoti (fish).

I'll be the first to say that English is a mess. However, there are rules, and this word breaks them.

That "gh" never appears at the beginning of a word, always at the end (as in "enough"). That "ti" is never at the end of a word; it's always inside (as in "nation").

[–] MaggiWuerze@feddit.org -1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ah, a VSauce Fan

[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 1 points 17 hours ago

According to Wikipedia, that spelling goes back to 1855. I first heard about it in the '90s.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago

Yes, but a fan of so much that I may have heard of that before Vsauce covered it. Vsauce is much good though, all of them have some credit

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also I pronounce it with the soft sound because that's what it sounds like in the bloody alphabet.

How do you pronounce the words "Cat celebration?" Is it "Kat kelebration" or "sat selebration?" I'm guessing the latter since that's how C is pronounced in the bloody alphabet?

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i pronounce "gay" as "jay-why" because of the bloody alphabet

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 23 hours ago

Good thing you're not German or gay would be "Guh-ypsilon."

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Just say gif like gnome

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 1 points 23 hours ago

guh-nif?

[–] Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

There actually are rules. They're just complicated because English prefers to preserve the pronunciation of loan words without changing their spelling and English has a ton of loan words. If you ignore them, native English words are fairly consistent.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

so I assume you also say "jit-hub"?

[–] Molten_Moron@lemmings.world 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No, and you don't say juitar (guitar), jame (game), or jallon (gallon), either.

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 1 points 21 hours ago

Yeah, because those all start with gu or ga.